Knowing Their Own
“……”
“You said today, right? Let's make a deal, kid. Can you promise me you won't join any gangs from now on?”
Ji Oneul nodded immediately.
“And stay away from cults too.”
“I will.”
“Promise me those two things and I'll let you go. The job's done. Hyun-sung.”
“Yes, Boss!”
“There's a spare backpack in the passenger seat, the one I never use, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Put some food in it and bring it out here.”
“Understood, Boss.”
Lee Hyun-sung didn't utter a word of complaint, and neither did the rest of the crew. Even Mu Beob-sa kept quiet this time.
For all his grumbling, Mu Beob-sa knew when to hold his tongue.
Hyun-sung came back in no time with the bag packed to bursting.
Thud.
Won-goo tossed the backpack down in front of Ji Oneul.
It was a bag with a big-eared rabbit printed on it.
“That backpack cost me a pretty penny. Keep it as a family heirloom.”
“……?”
“And hire a pathfinder to travel with. This world is tailor-made for dying screaming in a ditch, unloved and unmourned. Pay the man.”
With those final words, Won-goo turned on his heel and walked away without looking back.
Ji Oneul, Pyeong-hwa, and Na-ra only belatedly grasped what was happening. They bowed low and shouted their thanks, but nobody paid them any particular attention.
“Director Gong.”
Mu Beob-sa spoke up the moment they were back in the car.
“Aigoo. Fine, fine. I know I overspent a bit. I'll make it up out of my own pocket later. You know what those things go for. It's not like we're still trembling over a single pack of ramen like the old days. So I gave the kid one bag. If you've got something to say, say it.”
“No.”
“See? That's settled, then. I'll be more careful with my spending. And here I thought the old man was going to lecture me for once.”
“Director Gong!”
Mu Beob-sa barked so loudly that every head in the vehicle swiveled toward them.
“Yelling at me now, are we…….”
“I get to have my say too, that's the part.”
“Go ahead.”
“I was about to tell you you did well, that's the part.”
“……?”
“Well done. Director Gong.”
Won-goo's eyes went wide.
“What's gotten into you, old man? You whined about the money even when we went to pick up Cheol-su, and now—”
Mu Beob-sa lunged across the seat and clamped a hand over Won-goo's mouth.
“Get off! It's the truth, isn't it?”
“Did I send it? Weren't you the one who sold the thing to Sapiens, Director Gong? And now you're pinning this on me, that's the part?”
“Regardless, it's surprising. I didn't take you for the type, Mage.”
“Easy to go from 'old man' to 'Mage' when it suits you, that's the part.”
“You're prickly as ever…….”
“Even in a world like this, you have to let people see a little light, don't you think, that's the part?”
No one dared add a word to that.
Back at the Shelter, they met with their client, Band.
Long story short: Won-goo's judgment of the man had been correct.
“The requested item.”
“Thank you. Your reputation is well earned.”
“Not going to ask whether they're alive or dead?”
“I'll consider them dead.”
At that, the faintest smile touched the corners of Won-goo's mouth.
The two men shook hands one last time, and Band walked out of the shop without a hint of hesitation or regret.
“That thing he took. High grade?”
Won-goo asked Sanghae.
“Not an item, I'd wager.”
“It's not even an item, and he paid that much?”
“Even the most trivial thing can be worth more than anything else in the world to the right person.”
“People still have that kind of sentimentality? In the Queen's Gang, of all places?”
“That's probably exactly why people follow her.”
“Oh? Speaking like you know her well?”
“I've seen her once.”
“Huh. You actually met her in person?”
“Yeah. She's no ordinary woman.”
“Anyway, this job went well. Send more like this my way from now on.”
“You think that's up to me?”
“I'm saying split the referrals fairly. See you around, Sanghae.”
Won-goo clapped Sanghae on the shoulder and rose from his seat.
As always, his plan was to load up on street food and head back to the office.
Today's pick was kwabaegi — twisted doughnuts, deep-fried in oil so dark and ancient that no one could say when it had last been changed.
Before the apocalypse, the sight would have made people gag, and plenty would have gotten sick off it. But now was different.
Among survivors, almost nobody had adverse reactions to carcinogens of that caliber anymore.
Won-goo stuffed a hundred kwabaegi into his arms and headed for the office, not forgetting to clamp one between his teeth for the walk.
The moment he stepped inside, he could sense that the atmosphere was a touch delicate.
The reason sat in a chair, playing janggi against Yeom-gwi.
And this time, Yeom-gwi hadn't come alone. Three men and one woman stood behind her.
To a casual glance it was a simple scene — two elders playing Korean chess — but Won-goo grasped at once that this was anything but simple.
He scanned them in an instant.
Came fully geared up, did we?
“What brings a person of your standing all the way out here? And who's the backup crew?”
“Crewmates I work with.”
“Crew? Weren't you always a lone wolf, granny?”
Saying so, Won-goo settled naturally into the seat beside Mu Beob-sa, handing a kwabaegi over to Dan-shin as he went.
“You've got good instincts, Director Gong. Buying food because you knew guests were coming.”
“Just answer the question.”
“Sharp as ever.”
“I don't like people dropping in unannounced.”
“Then why did you commission an investigation into me?”
It was a fairly aggressive question, but Won-goo didn't so much as blink.
“Well, granny, you said some strange things last time you were here. Figured I'd better check whether you were one of them — Cheonmok, 3B, that lot.”
“And? What did it turn up?”
“Not much? Though looking at you now, I'm thinking I should have paid for a deeper dig.”
Won-goo said it while sweeping his gaze over the people at her back.
“Keke. Dig all you like, you brat. Nothing more is coming out.”
“So why are you here? The woman who travels alone, dragging people along with her?”
“I told you last time, Director Gong. I don't work alone.”
“I took that for hot air, to be honest.”
“It wasn't hot air, you brat.”
“Fair. It doesn't look like hot air now.”
Won-goo studied the figures behind her again as he spoke.
“So. You dug into my background and came all this way to tell me about it?”
“We looked into you a great deal more as well.”
“Did you, now?”
“We did.”
Yeom-gwi's and Won-goo's gazes crossed like drawn blades.
“Then before we go any further, let's establish the mood. Is this a serious mood? Or can I just sit back and listen?”
“It's serious, but you can just listen. Before that, though, we sign the contract.”
“That thing you said when you were here before — that you knew something. Was that it?”
“You remember. That's right.”
“And the contract says I keep today's contents to myself?”
“That's it.”
With that, Yeom-gwi drew out the contract she'd been carrying.
Won-goo picked it up and read it through, calm and unhurried.
The terms were simple. He was not to speak of the conversation they were about to have to any other person.
The undersigned shall not disclose, reference, or hint at the contents of the conversation to be shared hereafter to any third party.
“Handing this over is unusual for you.”
“You say that as if I'm giving away something tremendous.”
“It is tremendous. I'm granting a privilege to you and you alone.”
“I never asked for privileges. Honestly, I don't even know where I stand right now. Is this an incident? Is it a proposal? I can't even tell which.”
Once more, Won-goo and Yeom-gwi locked eyes head-on.
Then Yeom-gwi was the first to break, laughing with a low keke.
“We rate that temperament of yours highly. Not too soft, not too bristly. Composed. The ability to hold steady — that's a fine talent for surviving in this world.”
“I'm a man who likes giving evaluations, not receiving them. I know there's nothing tricky in that contract, but I was raised to treat every signature like it mattered.”
“You were raised properly, then.”
“Which is why I want real answers, not the brush-off. Granny. You came fully armed and brought your own people. You're prepared to draw blood right here if it comes to that — that's the read, isn't it?”
“Keke. Why? Got blood you owe somebody?”
“How would I know? Sift through one connection of mine and the enemies come crawling out by the dozen.”
“That's Director Gong's charm, isn't it.”
“So quit stomping around and just say it. This is where my crew rests. I'd rather not keep them wound up.”
Won-goo's people were seasoned by now. They'd caught on that the mood had turned grave, and they were quietly, stealthily readying themselves to enter combat at any moment.
“Remember the proposal I made before, you brat?”
“The one where you told me to join your side?”
“That one.”
“Join based on what? What did you actually tell me back then? A few scraps of information, that's all.”
“Even those few scraps are top-secret to anyone else.”
“I get the broad strokes. There was a faction that already knew the world was going to flip before it did, and you belonged to it. That about right?”
“Right. But they didn't just know. They tried to stop it.”
“……?”
“We had been fighting since before the Latter Heaven Opening — the apocalypse — ever began.”
“Latter Heaven Opening, Former Heaven Opening, innate talent, acquired talent — I know a thing or two about the places that split those hairs. Cults like Cheonmok and 3B, for starters.”
“You brat. Latter Heaven doctrine isn't anything like that. You brat.”
“Different, is it? You mean the part about how the whole latter/former divide started with Choe Je-u of Donghak? The man's pen name was Su-un, wasn't it?”
“……!?”
“……!?”
“……!?”
Yeom-gwi's eyes went wide — and so did the eyes of everyone standing behind her.
They didn't show it openly, but they were clearly, considerably shaken.
“How do you know that?”
“Nobody here got a standard education? The Donghak Peasant Revolution. They teach it to everyone, don't they? Latter Heaven Opening, Former Heaven Opening — I wondered where I'd heard those words before, and that was it.”
“…….”
“And why does that matter? What, is granny a descendant of that order?”
“From here on, you sign first and talk after.”
Won-goo signed the contract without a moment's hesitation. One by one, the rest of the crew in the office followed suit.
“Now talk. What's this enormous secret of yours?”
The story Yeom-gwi told didn't diverge greatly from what Won-goo had already pieced together on his own.
There was one difference, though. He had assumed Yeom-gwi was connected to Neo-Mason — and it seemed that might not be the case at all.
That would explain why his background investigation into her had turned up no points of contact with Neo-Mason whatsoever.
“So you're telling me granny belongs to the faction that fought tooth and nail against this apocalypse ever opening in the first place?”
“That's right.”
“And even so, you couldn't stop it?”
“We couldn't. As I said — there were those who sold it off.”
“And at first, you suspected me of being one of the sellers?”
“We did. Turns out you weren't.”
“And how exactly are you so sure of that?”
“Your head is still attached to your neck, Director Gong.”
“……?”
“Don't take it so aggressively. I have no intention of drawing blood. It's been confirmed, that's all.”
Won-goo's eyes went cold and sharp.
“Checking me alone doesn't settle anything. You need to give me the details. Isn't that why you shoved that contract in my face?”
Then, abruptly, Won-goo's brow twitched.
“Wait. It was the contract, wasn't it?”
“……?”
“That contract was the confirmation. Am I wrong?”
“Keke. What an imagination on you. What a waste. If I were even a little younger, I'd have taken you for a partner.”
“If you're lonely, go adopt a pet. Keep the nonsense to yourself.”
“Kekeke…….”
“So what exactly did you confirm?”
“I'll tell you everything, so don't get your hackles up.”
“…….”
“Director Gong. If you had to pick the single most delusional word in the whole of humanity's vocabulary, what would it be?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“Equality.”
“……?”
“Equality is the most delusional word there is. In all the long history of mankind, it has never once been realized. Have you ever seen an era in which all of humanity stood equal? No. People were always sorted into rulers and ruled. Only the dividing line changed. In one age it was birth, in another power, in another wealth. The ruling class and the ruled class exist side by side, always. That structure has never changed. Not once.”
“Did you come out here to lecture me on history? Get to the point.”
“This is the point. The reason the world has been turned upside down like this is precisely that. The men who sat at the top of humanity's hierarchy sold the Earth. The ones they called the elite. That's your answer.”
Won-goo didn't so much as flinch at Yeom-gwi's words.
“Granny. That's not an answer to my question.”
“……?”
“I asked how you identified me. I thought you said I wasn't one of them. The faction that sold off the Earth — you were going on about my neck, weren't you?”
“Ah, that? They recognize each other, you see.”
“……?”
“They know their own kind on sight. We're the ones who call them Neo-Mason.”
With that, Yeom-gwi tipped her chin toward the woman standing at the back of the room.
“Let me introduce you. This is Allium — once Neo-Mason, now one of us.”